Page 58 of When You Got a Good Thing (Misfit Inn 1)

She meant it as a quick peck, but Xander wrapped his arms around her, fitting her body against his. He didn’t devour her, though she could feel the edge of that temptation simmering between them. He seemed to be searching out some sweetness. So she pushed thoughts of Buck, of the inn, of the book from her mind and poured every ounce of comfort she could into the kiss.

The sound of the door opening had Xander reluctantly lifting his head. “I thought you were gonna walk loud,” he complained.

“When have I ever walked loud?”

Kennedy went rigid. No!

Maggie stood framed in the doorway, a tired smile on her face. “So that’s on again, is it? Glad to see some good news.”

Behind her Ari mimed Sorry!

Kennedy disentangled herself, mind already spinning in search of an explanation for the room. “We weren’t expecting you until the morning.”

“I caught an earlier flight.” Maggie shoved the door open wider. The moment she stepped inside, her face went pale. “What have you done?”

Kennedy’s nerves went taut at the immediate tone of disapproval. “I’m not finished yet. I wanted to have everything set up before I showed you.” This was all wrong. Incomplete. This wasn’t how she’d wanted to present the concept to her sister.

Xander gave her a supportive squeeze.

Maggie turned a circle, taking in the freshly painted walls and trim. “You’ve destroyed it.”

Irritation or exasperation she’d expected. But this kind of accusation left her stunned and confused. “I…what? It’s just paint. I was freshening everything up. I know the gray isn’t the warmest tone, but once you see it with the bedding, you’ll get the full effect.”

Maggie looked like she was ready to vomit. One arm wrapped across her middle, the other hand covered her mouth.

Kennedy rushed on, trying to find some way to salvage this train wreck. “If you hate the color that much, we can paint again. It’s not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal,” Maggie repeated, voice trembling. “Oh you have no idea how big a deal this is.”

This was bad. So. Very. Bad.

Pru appeared in the doorway. “Look who showed up early!” Her cheerful smile faded as she registered the tension. “What’s going on?” She came into the room and saw for herself. “Oh. Oh dear.”

“How could you do this?” Maggie demanded.

Okay maybe Kennedy hadn’t expected a double pompom yay reaction to her makeover, but she certainly hadn’t expected this. “Do what? I deliberately picked one of the rooms that wasn’t the family space.”

Xander’s phone rang, slicing through the tension before he reached into his pocket to silence it. “Why don’t we all take this down a few notches?”

Maggie ignored him, her hands curling into fists. “Not the family space? Have you been gone so long that you’ve forgotten how we define family here? Thi

s was Lauren’s room. Susan’s. Porter’s. Alex’s. They were all family.”

What the hell was this about? “I never said they weren’t. But no one’s been up here in ages. I don’t understand what I’ve done wrong.”

“Of course you don’t. Because you didn’t ask. You didn’t discuss it with anybody. You just did it. You’re always just doing what you want without taking anybody else into account. You haven’t been here in years, so how could you possibly make a decision like this without consulting us?” Maggie’s voice had risen to a shout.

“Now hold on a damn minute!”

Kennedy shot out a hand as Xander started to step in front of her. She’d done this, whatever it was. She’d face it herself. But most of the blood had drained out of her face, and she was shaky and cold. None of this was going how she’d planned. “I was just trying to help.” She hated that her voice came out small, almost childlike.

“Help? How does this help anything?” Maggie demanded.

“I was working on an idea that could save the house without the trust.”

Maggie threw up her hands and turned an angry circle, glaring at the walls as if she could incinerate the changes with a look. “Really, Kennedy?”

Kennedy’s shoulders slumped and she could actually feel her confidence evaporating. This was a mistake. A disaster, though she couldn’t understand why. And it didn’t matter that she wasn’t finished, didn’t matter that she’d done the work and the plan made sense. Maggie would never hear her now.

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